"Just barely made it." Kclayna said, running up to the old monitor, pressing button after button until her machine's were up and running, dimmed lights came on and a bright blue light appeared on the cieling. Kclayna looked up, confused, then she remembered. "Oh, I thought I took care of that shield last time. Good to see that the old shield's still up and running."

Ratchet and Tailen aided the wounded teammates, thankfully, there wasn't many. Bianna's leg was slightly dented after being sandwiched between a rock and heavy pieces of metal. Arc and Ree, for some reason, continued to smash into each other as the base was coming down, leaving both of them in such a daze that both Parate and Sanna had to carry them out. Ratchet, in the process of transferring the data to the next base, suffered major damage to both his servos.

"Thankfully, we're alright." Kclayna forced a smile, which quickly melted when she met Bianna's fiery optics.

"Are you insane!? Alright?! Without my mate?! Or my sons!?" Bianna shouted, pacing back and forth anxiously. "For spark sake, we just left them behind without any kind of warning! They could've been shot down, taken prisoner, or anything could have happened!"

"Take it easy, BB." Senti comforted, grasping Bianna's shoulder pads, holding her in place.

"I'll take it easy when I see my family together." She grumbled, shaking out of Senti's grasp, lubricants forming in her optics. "Why did we even come here? The old base in Reno, of all places for Kclayna to bridge us to, it just had to be here. I thought we agreed to never return to this scrap yard again?"

"Hey, don't diss on the base." Kclayna said, offended. "Remember, our ship was taken. Where else were we to go? No offense, Fowler, but your world's government was not of any help."

"Wait, hold on, what are you talking about?" Agent Fowler stood up, baffled with what Kclayna was saying. "You're tellin' me that when you arrived here, our government took away your ship."

"Yes. I assume for study purposes, but in doing so, has left us trapped here." Teama answered, staring at the wall, remembering the ship and the comrade's that had accompanied them. "Our ship, The Alpha, was taken the moment it touched landed on this planet. A human took pictures of our ship, the human government was quick to remove the photo, arrested the human, and negotiations were made. The Alpha was all we had to bargain, and once again, our ship has saved us."

"You mean my ship." Senti corrected. "I built that ship before graduation, my pride and joy, the very thing that saved our hides. It was the only working ship when we were under attacked. There were a lot more who got out than just us five. And the humans just take it away like that? It's bullshit."

"Watch the language, Sen." Bianna whispered heatedly, rubbing the spot between her optics. "The others; Raina, Data, Muse, Oilette, they chose to leave us and take our exile into their own hands. Primas only knows what happened to them, or where they are now."

"The ship does not matter now," Teama turned to face those left of the team. "What matter's now, is that we wait for Optimus and the others to locate this base. We will need to discuss how to leave subtle hints for them to find, without being discovered."

"Forgive my despair, My Lady, but I don't see how that is even possible." Bianna said in a very cynical tone.

"Hey, cool it. We get it, your dad, mate, and sons are missing. Anyone in your shoes would be acting the very same way." Senti's servos returned to Bianna's shoulder pads, forcing the anxious carrier to look directly at her. "But don't forget who else is missing a couple of loved ones." Senti commented, her optics glancing over at a worried Tier who was sitting on the ground with her hands together as if to say a prayer. Bianna sighed, shamefully, and shook her head. It wasn't too long before the attack that Bianna and Tier realized that both their son's were missing. Although Bianna had a hunch to where Tobit was, Tier was lost.

"Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it." Bianna apologized, glancing over at the opening to their base as if waiting for it to open. "It's just..."

"BB, I get it." Senti released her grip, her smile was small, but her optics showed concern. "Right now, he and the others are out there, and we need to take care of who we do have until then."

"Not again!" Ratchet exclaimed, slamming his fist on the monitor. "Ow!"

"Daddy! That's old technology! Break it and I can't guarantee I can fix it!" Kclayna shouted, brushing and caressing the spot Ratchet hit. "And be careful! I don't have that many medical tools on this base!"

"What is it, Ratchet?" Teama asked, walking up behind him. Then, she noticed small red dots multiplying on the screen and quickly approaching the spot where the base laid. "Decepticons."

Bianna heard a terrified gasp come from Dijette and a soft growl come from Blur's pipes. Blur had isolated himself since their arrival, which was out of character for him.

"Is there anywhere else we can go?" Parate asked, watching the screen. "Do you have any other base we can relocate to?"

"Yeah, we've got another one, but it's clear on the other side of the continent. Another one clear across the sea, and I am not going back to that place again." Kclayna answered, resting her servos on the machine with her head down, growling in frustration. "I can't guarantee the others will find us. I left them a note about this place, an encrypted message one of them will get. But that still doesn't mean that they'll find us before they..."

She stopped, realizing what she was about to say would not help the terrified mates and carriers.

"Looks like it's fightin' time." Sanna added, punching a fist into her open palm.

"Are you insane, Sanna?" Ratchet asked in his, often, skeptical manner.

"No, Ratch, she's right." Senti said, thoughtfully. "We've run out of places to run unless we really wanna lose more of our own. Can't drive away from here, they're practically at our front door. And, obviously, we can't hide anymore. "So that settles it."

"How can we do that without Optimus?" Ratchet whispered, looking back at the group. "We can't just dive right into battle. We will all end up dead by the end of the day."

"What choice do we have?" Parate asked, watching the dots multiply. "I am still a flier, I can take out many of the Seeker's before the even see me."

"Pfff, by yourself? I highly doubt your that skilled, Parate."

"You have no idea how I fight, Ratchet." Parate's voice print was cold as ice, sending an uncomfortable chill down Sanna and Tier's backs. They remembered just how cruel of a fighter Parate was, even before his betrayal of the Decepticon cause. And although he was able to keep his skills under control, maintaining only the basic survival tactics, they knew it would only be a matter of time before he snapped. "The Decepticons labeled me when I was on their side, even though they recognize me as a traitor, they would not dare challenge me unless they were ordered to do so."

"And what, exactly, did the call you?" Tailen asked, being equally skeptical.

A dark smile crossed Parate's lips, and all emotion left his optics, as if he was already concocting a plan. "Watch me fight, and you will know."

"Who can lead us?" Ratchet asked, still feeling uncertain about this plan. "What weapons do we have strong enough to face an army of this mass? We are missing our strongest soldiers, plus a ship that held most of our new found armory."

"I will lead us into battle." Teama announced, removing her sword from her back. "Optimus and Ultra Magnus are temporarily missing in action. Until one or both return, the responsibility of leadership befalls onto me."

"But-"

Teama raised her servo. ""I am afraid, Ratchet, we will need do this without him." She reassured, gently. "If memory serves me, correctly, we have done this before and survived."

"Yes, and we nearly lost."

"And we will lose once more if we cease trying!" Parate stated in a loud enough voice to startle Arc and Ree. Noticing their intimidation, Parate cleared his pipes, and continued in a more calm tone. "Think about it; if we run, we risk losing our best soldiers and we will need to face whatever army comes at us, eventually. It would be no different if we were to go out there and fight right now."

"I'm not running again." Senti stated with confidence, grasping the hilt of her sword. "If my mate's out there fighting for himself and his brothers, I have no right to do otherwise."

"I'd better go with, too." Kclayna sighed.

"No, you are to stay with me." Ratchet told her.

"With us." Tailen corrected, glaring at him.

"Save the feud you two." Senti commanded. Ratchet and Tailen have been on opposing terms ever since Ratchet overheard Tailen confess to Bianna about her affair during her disappearance. After that, Ratchet has been avoiding her attempts at reconciliation.

"Don't have time for this. Bottom line, if they go, I go. You can ground me for this later. Besides, you'll be needed here, Dad." Kclayna explained, pressing more buttons and a steering wheel similar to one found on a space ship appeared. "There's a reason why this base is large."

"We will all fight, together." Teama stood next to Senti at the base door, grasping Caliber. "Parate, you lead the back up team." She commanded, grabbing one of the rusted shields from their former weapons pile. Kclayna wrapped a couple of sharp pieces of metal around a few pieces of copper wire, then tied them on her forearms. Bianna grabbed a couple of grenades, holstered a blaster at her hip, and grabbed one of the shields. "Ratchet, I leave the children in your care. Dijette and Blur, the two of you are to keep your siblings inside and away from the battle."

"Yes ma'm." Dijette nodded, looking back at who was left of her siblings. Kade had somehow vanished during the escape, Tobit and Steele were missing before the raid. Blur stuck by Bianna's side until the last minute when they dashed through the ground bridge. Rollie grabbed a terrified Aura and a screaming Micra and shoved them inside her ball, and literally, rolled out.

Senti clasped Sentinel's shield over her right arm. Her optics caught sight of the energon stained edge. She gritted her mouth valve digit's together, her servos tightened into fists, adrenaline pumped through her system as blood would do in a human body. Teama stood beside her, Bianna and Rollie stood behind her, holding their own weapons.

Parate and his team stood behind them, waiting for their chance.

With her head held high, Teama led her team against the oncoming swarm of Decepticons.

"I don't know about you, but I'm sick and tired of standing on the side lines." Blur mumbled to his older sister, making sure he was out of ear reach of Ratchet.

"Don't even think about it." Dijette threatened in a harsh whisper, her processor buzzing around rapidly trying to understand what was happening. The only thing that seemed remotely clear was her responsibility as the older sibling. "You go out there and get yourself hurt or worse, it's on me."

"But you must be sick of this as well." Blur argued in a more calm manner. "Our parents, our family, they fight while we either run or hide. We can fight from a distance-"

"You're the only one who can fly, Blur." Dijette noted, crossing her arms. "How are the rest of us suppose to fight from a distance?"

"Ultra Magnus-er, grandfather- dropped off a couple of weapons we managed to save before we lost the base." He pointed to the farthest corner where a couple of blaster's and shields laid. "How hard can it be to use them?"

"How do you know if you can use them? What happens if we have a Decpeticon comes at us, and we have a weapon, but have no idea how to use it? If you're so smart, Blur, what would you say we should do?"

Blur looked down at the ground, realizing she was right, but it still didn't feel right to him.

"Dijette, look around you." He spread out his arms. "We're trapped in an unknown base Primas only knows where, Tobit's gone AWOL, Primas only knows where Kade's gone-"

"Hey!" Dijette shouted, gaining Ratchet's attention.

"What is it?" He asked.

"N-nothing, Ratchet." She answered quickly, wiping a tear from her optic.

"Don't worry about where Kade is, Dijette." Ratchet comforted, but he couldn't blame her. Somehow, in the midst of evacuating everyone, Kade couldn't be found anywhere on the base and no one had seen where he had gone off to. Aura swore she saw him drive off to find Tobit and Steele, but he didn't come back before the base was under attack. "He is smart, he'll know what to do and we will find him. Right now, keep your focus on Blur and your sisters."

"Yes, sir." She mumbled, glaring at Blur. Blur sighed, realizing he wasn't going to win this argument. He turned away from her, and walked to the furthest corner.

"Go with her." Ratchet whispered to Tailen, who was standing and watching the younger femme's standing ready for battle. She glared at Ratchet over her shoulder pad. "You cannot let her fight alone, not without either one of us. I am in no condition to help, let alone fight, and I will not have her going out there to fight without you or I."

A cold, scornful look crossed Tailen's blue optics, and Ratchet met her glare with an equal amount of anger. Ratchet and Tailen have been hostile with each other ever since Tailen confessed to Bianna about her affair with another bot, while Ratchet was led to believe her to be dead and her husk was rotting on Cybertron. Although Tailen apologized repeatedly, and begged for a second chance, Ratchet declined and is deciding whether or not to continue their marriage.

"Our anger for each other aside, and your jealous envy for Kclayna's affection towards me, just be a mother for Primas sake."

Tailen sighed loudly, grabbed a couple of scaple's from the table. "Fine, but it's not because you were giving me an order."

The door rattled and creaked, but the wall went up, the afternoon sun shined brightly and the summer heatwave washed over their husks. A horde of Decepticon Seeker's came into view like birds in the sky.

"This should be fun." Senti said out loud, watching the swarm of Decepticons flying towards their base.

With as much bravery as each member of her team could summon, Teama led her team forward. The base door closed loudly behind them. The femme's analyzed their enemies, searching for the weakest of the Seekers.

"Take out the smaller one's first." Parate advised into their comlink. "They will spiral and give a domino affect."

They gave no acknowledgment that they heard him, but they did heed them. In no time at all, the Decepticons had them within their sights and began their assault. One of the Seekers fired at Teama, and another one fired at Senti. Teama and Senti, with their swords drawn, blocked the oncoming blaster fire. When the first attack was blocked, Bianna aimed and fired her weapon, taking out the first Decepticon flier, causing him to crash into another, then into the ground. Teama heard a Decepticon shout for another to fire his weapons at them. She glanced up, spotting the flier circling them like a metallic vulture. Swallowing down her fear, she barged ahead just as he began to unload. It didn't take long for the others to catch up to her, both her and Senti using their swords to ricochet any debris or blaster fire, allowing Bianna, Kclayna and Tailen to fire their own weapons. Teama led them right, then left, sometimes all the way around in order to avoid the blaster's. It seemed like everything was happening in slow motion; Teama and Senti provided the blockade and the temporary slice attack, Bianna, Kclayna, Rollie and Tailen shot at any Flier within their sights, and before anyone knew it, the Flier's crashed into one another, sometimes two at a time, and the ground shook as the Seeker's crashed and exploded on impact. Teama and her team were running in between piles of dead Decepticons and fire. Suddenly, the Decpeticons began a retreat and regrouped towards the horizon. Teama skidded to a halt and raised a servo, signaling for the others to stop.

The Leader Flier led the rest around and straight down. They transformed into bots just before they touched, and barged forward. She heard a couple of whimper's and groans from behind her.

"Do not let them intimidate you!" Teama shouted, running again. The Leader Flier, larger than the others with wings big enough to take challenge Starscream's, shouted and then raised his arm. A bomb shot straight out from behind him. Tailen eyed the bomb, grabbed the scaple from her side and threw it directly at the bomb, causing it to explode midair. They released another bomb, this time, Senti threw her sword at it. Teama watched the Leader Flier, searching for any sign of weakness. Suddenly, the Decepticons released a hail of blaster fire onto the femme's. Senti skidded to a halt with her arms out to stop Kclayna and Bianna, Teama raised her sword and slammed it into the ground, and gave it a hard twist.

Caliber released the shield that was held inside of it's blade, using Earth's strongest rocks and mineral's and the metals of it's own to save Teama and the others.

"Rollie, go!" Senti commanded, pulling out her blaster cannon and began firing. "You three, get ready to charge! Fire on sight!"

Rollie leaped and transformed into an overly large ball, and rolled at a rapid pace through the shield. The Decepticons were crushed underneath her mass, grinded into a metallic dust. Many of them tried to shoot their weapons to stop her, but Rollie's entire husk was made of one of Cybertron's strongest alloy's, making her immune to any fire blaster. Teama used the opportunity to yank Caliber out of the Earth, with a courageous growl, she charged ahead as a Decepticon appeared on the other side of Rollie. Right away, he raised his weapon and fired it at her. Teama knelt, spun around, using her extended leg to trip the Decepticon, and shoved the heel of her landing pad into his pipes. Bianna, Kclayna and Tailen followed closely behind Rollie, using her to their advantage, and fired at all that was in sight. Senti dodged another grenade, rolled back onto her landing pads, spun around like a helicopter and sliced all that stood in her way.